THE father of a schoolboy killed in a bus crash yesterday called for an end to fines for late-running school buses.

THE father of a schoolboy killed in a bus crash yesterday called for an end to fines for late-running school buses.

Numerous bus services around Wales, especially in rural areas, double up as public and school services.

But the Traffic Commissioner for Wales, David Dixon, has confirmed to The Western Mail that the services are subject to the same penalties for late running as normal buses.

The bus industry claims this puts drivers under pressure not to stop their buses, while they tell the children to behave themselves.

The bus which crashed near Cowbridge in December 2002, killing 12-year-old Stuart Cunningham-Jones, was officially open to the public as well as being used to carry pupils home from school.

Last month the inquest into Stuart's death heard some pupils had been playing around beside the driver's cab.

Stuart's father, David, said yesterday that school and public buses should normally be separate, for reasons of safety and child protection.

But where they were combined, they should be exempt from the usual fines for delayed bus services.

"This loophole has got to be overcome," said Mr Cunningham-Jones, who is involved in Stuart's Campaign for better school transport.

"If you're saying that a bus is a dedicated school-route bus, you've got to have some sort of waiver on running to time.

"There are a number of problems associated with that (type of service) that aren't on a normal service route."

He said many buses serving school children and the public were hardly ever used by the latter. "Nobody in their right mind would go on it," he said.

A spokesman for the Traffic Commissioner confirmed that all school services advertised to the public came under the normal penalty regime.

If a service is reported more than six minutes late several times, the commissioner can fine the bus operator up to £550 for each vehicle in the company's fleet. Where serious breaches have occurred, the operator could be stripped of bus routes.

The spokesman said the commissioner would take into account any concerns over safety when setting fines.

"If the safety of the vehicle is impaired by kids messing around, the bus driver should stop and secure the bus."

When an operator was called in to explain late-running services, the commissioner would want to see evidence that behaviour was a problem.

"That may take the form of the company putting a report in to the school or police."

Asked whether services carrying children to and from school should be exempt from fines he said, "There's got to be consistency throughout the bus services.

"If problems do develop, it's up to the operator to do something about it, not park the bus up for 15 minutes a day while you settle the kids down. We would expect the operator to write to the school."